Debbie Keller

Debbie Keller
Keller in 1995
Personal information
Full name Deborah Kim Keller[1]
Date of birth (1975-03-24) March 24, 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth Winfield, Illinois, United States
Height 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Position(s) Forward
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1996 North Carolina Tar Heels
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997 Rockford Dactyls
1999 Fortuna Hjørring
2000 Rockford Dactyls
International career
1995–1998 United States 46 (18)
Medal record
FIFA Women's World Cup
Bronze medal – third place 1995 USA Team competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Deborah Kim Keller (born March 24, 1975) is an American retired soccer forward and former member of the United States women's national soccer team. She was the collegiate National Player of the Year in 1995 and 1996.

Early life

Born in Winfield, Illinois, Keller was raised in Naperville where she attended Waubonsie Valley High School and played for the women's soccer team where her mother was the head coach. Throughout her high school career, Keller scored 144 goals and served 92 assists. She was named a Parade All-American twice and was named to the Chicago Tribune Top 20 Scholar-Athlete Team.[1]

North Carolina Tar Heels

Keller attended University of North Carolina from 1993 to 1996 where she played for the Tar Heels led by national team coach, Anson Dorrance.[2] During her junior season, she scored 23 goals and served 14 assists in the 26 games she played.[1] Five of her goals came during Tar Heels' 8–0 defeat of North Carolina State University.[3] The following year, she scored 18 goals and served 16 assists in 22 games.[1]

In 1998, Keller and her Tar Heel teammate Melissa Jennings filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Dorrance that ended ten years later in a settlement.[4][5]

Playing career

Club

In March 1999 Keller signed for Danish Elitedivisionen team Fortuna Hjørring, scoring on her debut on April 1, 1999.[6] She received a letter of intent from Women's United Soccer Association, but did not join the new league because of Dorrance's involvement in it.[7]

International

Keller played for the United States women's national soccer team from 1995 to 1999. In 1998, her 14 goals ranked third on the team behind Mia Hamm and Tiffeny Milbrett.[8] She was cut from the team before the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup and unsuccessfully took legal action to be reinstated, suggesting her exclusion by coach Tony DiCicco had been a retaliation for the Dorrance lawsuit.[9]

Personal life

After retiring from soccer, Keller went to beauty school to become a hairstylist. She was married in 2001 to Chris Hill.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Debbie Keller". Soccer Times. Archived from the original on December 16, 2004. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  2. ^ DeSimone, Bonnie (June 15, 2003). "Outcast with a cause". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  3. ^ "Tarpley Scores Four Goals As Carolina Blanks Wake Forest". University of North Carolina. October 14, 2003. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  4. ^ "Dorrance, former player settle sexual harassment suit". USA Today. January 14, 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  5. ^ "Is different approach needed?". Sports Illustrated. November 23, 1998. Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  6. ^ Wahl, Grant (April 19, 1999). "Soccer". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
  7. ^ French, Scott (May 8, 2000). "Four players, four views" (PDF). Soccer America. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 12, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
  8. ^ Jones, Grahame L. (March 1, 1999). "Keller Is a Star on the Outside Looking in". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  9. ^ Longman, Jere (May 11, 1999). "Keller Loses Bid to Return to U.S. Women's Team". New York Times. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  10. ^ DeSimone, Bonnie (June 15, 2003). "Outcast with a cause". Chicago Tribune. Raleigh, North Carolina. Retrieved August 4, 2022.

Further reading

  • Crothers, Tim (2010), The Man Watching: Anson Dorrance and the University of North Carolina Women's Soccer Dynasty, Macmillan, ISBN 1429946261
  • Lisi, Clemente A. (2010), The U.S. Women's Soccer Team: An American Success Story, Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0810874164
  • Longman, Jere (2009), The Girls of Summer: The U.S. Women's Soccer Team and How it Changed the World, HarperCollins, ISBN 0061877689